January 1, 1991Journal of Environmental Quality
The Measurement of Bioavailable Phosphorus in Agricultural Runoff
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Implication
Experimental evaluation demonstrates accurate measurement of bioavailable phosphorus in agricultural runoff, indicating routine applicability for water quality management.
Key Points
- To develop and evaluate a standardized sodium hydroxide extraction method for measuring potentially bioavailable particulate phosphorus in agricultural runoff.
- Mixed 20 mL of unfiltered runoff with 180 mL of 0.11 M NaOH for 17 hours to quantify bioavailable particulate phosphorus (BPP) after subtracting soluble phosphorus.
- Cultured phosphorus-starved Selenastrum capricornutum algae for up to 29 days using runoff sediments from nine watersheds to validate biological phosphorus uptake against chemical extraction.
- Algal growth correlated strongly with potentially bioavailable particulate phosphorus measured by the chemical extraction across nine watershed sediments (r² = 0.76 to 0.95).
- Sediment dilution did not alter phosphorus extraction efficiency across sediment concentrations representative of 95% of typical runoff events.
Cite This Study
Sharpley et al. (1991) studied this question.